Flights - Opinions/guesses needed

DuxDweller · Post by **DuxDweller** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:36 am

Okay - so I am an idiot. I booked my villa for next February (Presidents Week) and "waited" to get a good airfare from Boston to STT. That was $200 per ticket lower ago . . .

I am now looking at $700 a head (I have 6 people - my wife and I, along with 4 kids). Shoudl I book now or wait it out a little longer???

I think I need a few painkillers to help me decide

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:46 am

I did the same thing as you.I booked a villa for thanksgiving months ago but waited for the airfare to go down, it is up $300.00. I just finally booked my tickets yesterday for $750.00.

Nannerz · Post by **Nannerz** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:04 pm

having worked for an airline for 7 years, I'll give you my advice. I dont think prices will go down. Fuel costs are awful, getting worse and routes are being cut and flights being oversold to make sure planes are full. Add to that the fact that you both booked very popular travel times, I dont see the fares going down.
I did play the "wait til they drop" game too and saw some of my most desireable flights increase dramatically overnight.

Just my opinion

gobucs · Post by **gobucs** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:12 pm

Have you checked out Spirit?
I just looked and if you canleave on a Thursday the fare right now is only 414.00RT
I am waiting as well for next year cuz Spirit is always running specials

good luck
gobucs

Jo Ann - VA · Post by **Jo Ann - VA** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:23 pm

I've never booked more that 2 flights at once and I've got a few questions.

I need to book flights for 5 people (2 couples and a single adult) next week for a trip in May. What is the best way to do it? Book all 5 at once or book 2 at the same time then immediately book 3 more? Or does it make a difference? I'd like for everyone to sit together or at least the couples to be together and the single with one of the couples.

Or, should I tell the other couple and the single person to book their flights themselves?

Thanks![/color]

gobucs · Post by **gobucs** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:34 pm

I would book together so that way you have a better chance of sitting together

Nannerz · Post by **Nannerz** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:35 pm

It doesnt make a difference how many seats you book at once. If all of you want to sit together, most airlines/travel sites have the option for you to view open seats. You can book your party of 2 in an area where there are a lot of open seats around you, the rest can try and book in the same area as your seat assignments.

Lulu76 · Post by **Lulu76** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:03 pm

I was always told when you book in a group (even two people) to just book them all seperately because if the airline has say three seats at a cheaper price and two at a higher price available, they will just give you all five at the higher price if you ask for five tickets. However, if you booked each ticket individually, you'd have at least gotten a lower fare for a few people.

I am getting ready to book my flight for November. It's not going to go down. And if it goes down enough for me to worry about it, I am booking through the airline direct and I will pay the change fee and fix it. I just don't see it happening, though.

I am having so much trouble with one person's fare; I don't know how those of you with large groups do it.

TropicAtHeart · Post by **TropicAtHeart** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:28 pm

Nannerz wrote:having worked for an airline for 7 years, I'll give you my advice. I dont think prices will go down. Fuel costs are awful, getting worse and routes are being cut and flights being oversold to make sure planes are full. Add to that the fact that you both booked very popular travel times, I dont see the fares going down.
I did play the "wait til they drop" game too and saw some of my most desireable flights increase dramatically overnight.
Just my opinion

Question for Nannerz:
In regards to airlines overbooking flights, do those who check-in online get an assured seat anymore then those who check-in bit later when they get to the airport? Or, does it really have to do with who's actually sitting at the gate waiting? Our flights are from using FF, but from a partner airline (BA miles) while we are flying American. So, American won't let us check-in online and therefore we are thinking about getting to the airport even earlier so we can ensure getting our seats. We don't want to get bumped.

petepie · Post by **petepie** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 2:51 pm

We just booked three families separately and either were on the phone with each other selecting seats, or emailed seat selections to the others so that we could all try to be in the same area. That said, we're not all right next to each other, because some people like windows, some aisles etc. but if we had really wanted to, we could have booked the seats next to each other just by keeping in touch and all separately booking at around the same time.

Nannerz · Post by **Nannerz** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 2:53 pm

I cant speak for all airlines, but it usually has to do with issuing the boarding passes. First in first out. Sometimes you might run into this problem if they are rerouting people due to weather and mechanics too. Eventhough they might oversell a flight by 10% or whatever, they will only issue enough boarding passes to fill the plane. Oversells are based on trends for that route, so there's a science behind it. Airlines trying to get more capacity.
If you can do the early online checkin,then do it 24 hrs in advance and print boarding pass from home. If you have to checkin at the airport and need to check bags, then get there early like the airlines advise. Overbooking doesnt happen on all flights and airlines intentions aren't to leave passengers behind, so dont stress alot over it.

If you have checked in online or have been issued a boarding pass, most airlines will wait till boarding is closed, before the flight to give your seat away. So be early and on time.
I always use online checkin, and never check bags....

petepie · Post by **petepie** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 2:55 pm

forgot to add that if you have a really large group, you may want to really try to all book right at the same time. We all booked within 30 minutes of each other for a pretty cheap fare, and about 2 hours later I noticed that the fare went up. I don't know if it's coincidence, or if booking a bunch of cheap seats triggered the airline to raise the rates on that flight.

TropicAtHeart · Post by **TropicAtHeart** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 3:06 pm

Thanks Nannarz for the information. We never have bags to check, but unfortunately I don't think we can print our boarding passes ahead of time because we are using British Airways points on American Airlines. For some reason, they've always made us print at airport when the miles are coming from a partner. We booked these tickets last August in order to get free seats.

Nannerz · Post by **Nannerz** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 3:11 pm

I think you will be fine. Dont worry about it. Lots of people have to checkin to get boarding passes, expecially if theres anything special, like redeeming miles. I have flown most of my life the free standby route, so actually having a boarding pass before I get to the airport is absolute luxury!
Have fun!

Nannerz · Post by **Nannerz** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 3:58 pm

Check out www.yapta.com You can track flight prices and trends and be notified when fares increase and decrease. You can also see hte flights other passengers are watching. Also www.farecast.com based on trends it predicts if the prices will change and also the best time to buy. I havent had luck with farecast's website, but their prediction tool is on MSN's travel page too.

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